sup guys, I am looking to purchase a garmin handheld gps to map out the trails where I ride. I was wondering if it was possible to mark a trailhead with the trail number and name, then track as I am riding on the trail to create a trail on the handheld? I don't know if that makes sense but I can't think of any other way to explain it lol.

 

I guess it depends on the handheld. If I'm not mistaken most of the modern handhelds leave a "bread crumb" trail as you walk or ride. You would need a computer program that would allow you to transfer them to your PC so you can view them and print up a map. The software usually comes with the GPS unit.

 

We GPS our rides as we go and then we (when I say we I mean my brother) can show the course on Google Earth and then can print a one page map vs the big fold out type that our local riding area gives out! He has marked each intersection as we go so that our map has all landmarks entered and is very friendly...he may weigh in on here and tell what unit he has and how to do it!!

 

I am the we in the above post. "We" use a Garmin Venture HC...can find one online for around $100. It is pretty basic and easy to use. You can mark waypoints to mark the trailhead and turn on tracking to leave a breadcrumb trail. You can then set the GPS to back track and follow your trail back. When we ride I turn tracking on and put the GPS on in my pocket. It tracks our route and I can pull it out at any point and match the tracks to the map and can find exactly where we are. We ride WNF most of the time and their map is a huge fold out map like a state map. I have marked all the intersections at WNF, used EASYGPS and Google Earth to load the tracks and made my own one page map. For a handheld and only $100, I would highly recommend a Garmin Venture HC.

Here is one of the maps that I have created using the bread crumb trail and Google Earth.

 

This is a great example of what a basic GPS can do now. Thanks for posting it.
A couple buddies and I went on a long ride up in Southern Maine. We ended up doing 86 rough miles. Needless to say we spent the last 3 hours of our ride in the dark other than headlights. It was great to have the GPS right there on the handlebars zoomed way in to see if I had just shot past a trail we needed to go back on. It would have taken us at least a couple hours more if we had not had the GPS with us. They're a great tool.

 

GPS is a great accessory to have. Most all will do bread crumbs and show you the trail. Basic units dont do mapping real well, but the ones that do are not too bad in price. I use a Garmin Dakota 20 for hunting and now on the quad, it it works well. The map above is a great example of what they can do